Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Audi had my car for 2 months during the part shortages timeframe and I know how you feel. It's been almost a year now and I've forgotten about it and enjoy the car.

I wonder how hard it will be to find an unmodified example, I guess I should just stay clear of any with lots of owners and aim for one with the common issues ironed out. Off to eBay I go!

I know there's some Citroen C5 love in this thread occasionally.

https://youtu.be/GIZzsS4oEbg?feature=shared

The good thing is there are quite a few R53’s around, I’d also check out the ‘R53 Owners Club’ group on FB as they have cars for sale. A lot will have had a few mods, which wouldn’t worry me, like a reduced pulley, exhaust and intake/filter but from my search there’s still a reasonable amount around that are standard. Good luck keep us posted 👍

What are the cooper modded ones like?

The JCW are great but you pay a big premium for one from what I can see, and if you just wanted the performance it’s easy and relatively cheap to replicate. Off the top of my head it’s a reduced pulley on the supercharger, cooler plugs, a different intake system, higher capacity injectors, exhaust (not sure about manifold) and a different map. You could get a good chunk of the gains with a pulley/plugs/filter for a couple of hundred quid. Things get a bit more expensive when you start looking at the suspension/brakes element.

Largest issue I found with trying to buy a performance Audi is the owner...

They are the drug dealer car of choice, trying to find one that isn't Cat S, dodgy repairs, cheap mods, outstanding finance or just generally people I didn't want to buy a car off was a real issue.

I did go to look at one and thought "I'll give this guy the benefit of the doubt" - looking through the car to check it all over, about 5 grand in cash in the glove box.

Gave up looking after that.

All fun and games until you buy one with an 'outstanding finance' but not with a finance company.

Story 1:

A friend of mine purchased an RS5 just over a year ago from a dodgy character in Birmingham. He was unsure, but still went through with the deal as the car was standard, had been looked after etc. About 3 weeks later, he was driving to work and 3 guys stopped infront of his car, slashed the tyres and then drove off. He works in tech sales and does gardening at the weekend...

Story 2:

I have a family member who works at an Audi dealership, and they are under strict instructions not to put any S or RS car on the forecourt at night, they arrive to work to find the car on axle stands missing wheels, brakes and seats.

Seats are the most profitable thing to steal as they only take 4 bolts and they are worth a fortune and a complete nightmare to replace as they can take up to a year to get a replacement and will cost around £15k (seriously) for individual order from Audi.

Story 3:

I used to have an EP3 Type R that I wanted to put the red Recaro seats that came OEM in specific cars. I went to Birmingham to a trader who had a pair for sale, and I purchased them. As I was on my way out, I saw a storage containers with 2 levels of shelving full (and I mean full) of Audi RS seats. There was probably £250k+ in seats.

When I purchased the seats I soon after noticed they were missing a few of the parts I needed to fit them, so I messaged the seller to see if he had them, and he said he did and could send them to me in the post. When I mentioned I could drive to him again to pick them up instead of him posting them, he blocked me...

Everyone I have ever asked for car buying advice has told me to steer clear of Birmingham 😆

Why limit that advice to car buying?

Phill Morrison, co-owner of Driftworks, who lives in Birmingham sold his RS6 Avant because he "didn't want someone kicking the front door in to steal it". As you say, wannabe or actual gangster wheels of choice.

Not very familiar with that car, but I want one now.

It's such a shame as RS cars really do it for me.

. 5 cylinder - check
. quattro - check
. splashings of carbon and Alcantara on the interior - check
. sporty seats - check

I think if you're 'into cars' they just have so many of the classic features you'd want from something sporty.

I went to the Quattro meet yesterday at Caffeine and Machine and I've got to stop myself looking at RS cars because of my last post.

Section 19 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 has been exercised.

£26k - fast sub 5 practical cars, needs 4 seats, decent stereo withCarPlay/AA preferable.
GO:

Edit: Adding the fact that the car MUST have an adjustable headrest. And ideally not be a VAG 2.0. I've just scratched that itch with the S3.

Edit again: I do 5000 a year max, short runs - diesels probably aren't applicable.

That seems like the right deicision to have made. Any resistance from the dealer on it?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306098336452?sort=price-desc&advertising-location=at_cars&aggregatedTrim=Cupra%20300&body-type=Estate&make=SEAT&model=Leon&postcode=M41PY&price-to=27500&fromsra

They've acknowledged my request and being within 30 days (clock stops ticking when they take receipt of the car) I do not think there is anything they can do legally to stop it.

So, Cupra; I test drove a Golf R estate a little while back and it was fine. I don't know if my assumptions are ill informed but the build quality is likely worse than the Golf. I didn't get a Golf R to start with because I didn't like the build quality which is how I ended up at a S3.

I need character of sorts. The M140i B58 was lovely, the S3 E888 was a tad boring and the V60 Polestar was only really allowed into the fold because it had a supercharger and turbo. I'd ideally like at least 6 cylinders as a semi-last hoorah before electric is imposed on us.

M2 is the obvious answer.

With a bit of budget creep, a Giulia QF would be my choice.

Any recommendations for a solar trickle charger to keep the battery full during extended non use? There are a billion on amazon etc - I don't particularly want the car to go up in flames or go flat again.

I think something very much like this Suzuki Swift will be my choice next year once I pass my theory test here.

You'll probably have more fun in a swift revving out the max in every gear compared with your previous #fastwankermobiles

IDK, revving out the E63 was pretty memorable, especially with the gearbox blasting through the changes.

On a private road obviously

Yeah agree, I normally drive a 6cyl RWD car which isn't fast but faster than it ever needs to be.

A few hundred km cross country recently in a light little golf mk2 with crashy suspension and a 2.0ABF (surprisingly torquey in such a light car) was more fun than all the modern sporty stuff I've driven.

Friend swapped a 350z for a Swift, and it was a better car in all ways except straight line speed and the fact the 350 could do donuts (not that it ever did)

With a bit of budget creep, a Giulia QF would be my choice.

I've seen this, it's a little leggy.

M2 is obvious answer, but my last foray into RWD didn't end too well (the night before my honeymoon oops...)

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